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Is staying out of the sun causing us more harm than good?

We are continuously bombarded with messages about the dangers of too much sun and the increased risk of melanoma (the less common and deadliest form of skin cancer), but are these dangers real, or is staying out of the sun causing us more harm than good?

22 Jul 2008

Shocking new figures reveal the extent of Britain's alcohol problem

According to government figures revealed in the UK, six per cent of all hospital admissions are related to illness or injuries caused by alcohol.

22 Jul 2008

Link between small birth size and changes to the CV system that predispose to disease in later life

Researchers have found the first evidence that smaller size at birth is associated with specific alterations in the functioning of the heart and circulation in children and that these changes differ between boys and girls.

22 Jul 2008

Notch protein helps human embryonic stem cells 'decide' their own fate

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the Notch protein helps human embryonic stem cells 'decide' their own fate, a finding which may eventually be useful in programming cells for the development of stem cell therapies. Their results are reported in the May 2008 issue of Cell Stem Cell.

22 Jul 2008

Roche acquires Mirus to advance RNAi delivery research

Roche (Basel) and Mirus Bio Corporation (Madison, WI, USA) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Roche will acquire Mirus Bio Corporation, a privately-owned US company based in Madison, Wisconsin, that focuses on the discovery and development of innovative nucleic acid based technologies, including a proprietary RNAi (Ribonucleic Acid interference) delivery platform.

22 Jul 2008

No need for gene screens in breast cancer families

Research reported today should provide relief to women who are worried after a relative's breast cancer diagnosis. The study in the open access journal BMC Cancer shows that a family history of breast cancer does not give a useful indication of the likelihood that a woman will develop it herself at an early age.

22 Jul 2008

New cartilage repair gel developed by University of Bradford

The University of Bradford's School of Engineering, Design and Technology and Advanced Gel Technology Ltd (AGT), a University spin out company, are developing a cartilage repair gel to improve the quality of life for people suffering with medical joint trouble such as osteoarthritis.

22 Jul 2008

New study finds working age adults with major chronic conditions grew 25 percent over 10 years

As the number of working-age adults who have major chronic conditions grew between 1997 and 2006, those without health coverage in this group experienced substantial erosion in access to health care, according to a new study by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers published today as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive.

22 Jul 2008

Mobile medics will shape the medical device market

Doctors on the move and domiciliary healthcare workers are changing the way patients are treated and are creating new and exciting opportunities for both medical device manufacturers and the consumer electronics industry, according to research by UK based analysts Wireless Healthcare.

22 Jul 2008

Visualisation software to aid prostate cancer detection

Visualisation specialists See3D, a spin off company of the University of Aberystwyth, is developing unique, sophisticated computer-generated models that will help doctors to improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

22 Jul 2008

Nursing teams in care homes could reduce hospital admissions

Bringing a community nursing and physiotherapy team into residential care homes for older people improves quality of life and reduces hospital admissions, according to a new evaluation study's reports published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

22 Jul 2008

Science of magic - understanding human cognition and perception

Magic tricks, like those by Derren Brown and David Blaine, should be studied more closely to gain a deeper knowledge of the way human beings think and act, according to research by British and Canadian psychologists.

22 Jul 2008

Coronary heart disease linked to problems with reasoning, vocabulary and verbal fluency

Coronary heart disease is associated with a worse performance in mental processes such as reasoning, vocabulary and verbal fluency, according to a study of 5837 middle-aged Whitehall civil servants. The study also found that the longer ago the heart disease had been diagnosed, the worse was the person's cognitive performance and this effect was particularly marked in men.

22 Jul 2008

Luna awarded NIH grant for fullerene-based nanomedicines as allergy treatments

Luna Innovations Incorporated has announced the award of a $1.6 million Research Project Grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the use of fullerene-based nanomedicines as a pathway to treat allergies and other inflammatory diseases.

22 Jul 2008

Gilead initiates phase III trial of Elvitegravir

Gilead Sciences, Inc. has announced that it has begun enrolling patients in a Phase III clinical trial of its investigational antiretroviral agent elvitegravir (GS 9137), a novel oral integrase inhibitor that is being evaluated for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.

22 Jul 2008

End of life physician-patient communication

Although a growing body of research supports a link between effective communication and patient, family and physician satisfaction, doctors, including oncologists and other specialists who frequently care for terminal patients, do not routinely receive training in end-of-life conversations during medical school, residency training, or after they start to practice medicine.

22 Jul 2008

Healthcare assistants feel undervalued

UNISON is calling for 'just a little respect' for the vital role that healthcare assistants play in treating and caring for patients.

22 Jul 2008

Use of rheumatoid arthritis drug to treat Alzheimer's causes concern

New research into the treatment of Alzheimer's disease using a popular rheumatoid arthritis drug has caused some concern.

22 Jul 2008

16% of all new HIV cases reported in Canada linked to immigrants

About 16% of all new HIV cases reported in Canada in 2005 were linked to immigrants from countries where HIV is prevalent, according to a report recently released by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, the CP/Toronto Star reports.

22 Jul 2008

Russia considers ending mandatory HIV testing for foreigners entering country

Following U.S. Senate approval of legislation to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that includes a provision to ease HIV/AIDS-related travel restrictions, Russian government officials have said they are considering replicating the U.S. measure, "an indication that Russia may end mandatory HIV tests for foreign residents," the Moscow Times reports.

22 Jul 2008